An Unlikely Lover
by Kate Manoso
Summary: Four part story for Rae that she requested as a b-day present. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RAE! I hope this is what you were looking for. Adult language and smut. You are now warned.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer:JE owns the characters.

_A/N: This is for Rae. Happy Birthday, Babe!_

**An Unlikely Lover - Part One**

"Run it by me again."

I grinned. He was testing me to make sure that I'd actually paid attention to his game plan. "Binkie's picking me up at five. We'll drive over to After Hours together and enter as a couple. Vince will be behind the bar. Hal and Woody are going to be posing as other customers. Binkie will turn into an ass and leave me high and dry once our skip arrives. I do my thing and bring him out the front where you, Tank, and Ram will be waiting to grab him."

He smiled and nodded the whole way though. "Just remember to call him Aaron. This is a yuppie bar. Not a lot of people are going to go by nick names like Binkie."

I saluted Lester and he laughed. "I've got to pick up Mooner and then I'll head home to get cleaned up."

"Don't get too clean," Lester said as he walked with me out into the street to open my door for me. "You have to look like you spent the day in an office. Aim for rumpled, sexy secretary."

I laughed. "Relax. I've done this before."

He leaned against my door instead of opening it. "I heard you had problems with a skip yesterday."

"Lee Marvin," I said with a nod. "He managed to get out of his house and I chased him for a bit before he lost me."

"Want to try again tomorrow and I'll go with you?" Lester asked, a slightly concerned look on his face.

"Is there something that I missed when I did my search on him?" I asked as I started to get a hinkey feeling. The guys usually didn't offer to help me until I was already covered in garbage.

"No," he said with a sigh. "I was just offering."

"I wanna try one more time on my own. If I can't get him, then I'll call you."

Lester nodded as he straightened up and opened my door. "I can round up a full crew and we'll surround his house SWAT style."

My heart froze in my chest as I heard a familiar pop followed by a burning sensation in my arm. In the blink of an eye, Lester had his arms around me and both of us on the ground. Neither one of us moved until we heard the squealing of tires just down the street.

I patted Lester's back and said, "I think we're clear."

It wasn't until I brought my hand up to check the back of my head that I saw that it was covered in blood.

"Lester?" I whispered.

He didn't respond. He started to grow heavy as he lay on top of me and my stomach tightened. I turned my head to the side and grabbed his face to turn him to look at me. His eyes were closed and it looked like his skin had grown slightly pale. My right hand slid down to his neck and I checked for a pulse as my heart rate climbed.

"Lester?" I said, slightly louder after I found a pulse.

"Stephanie?"

"Call 9-1-1!" I shouted towards Lula on the other side of my car. "Lester's been shot!"

My attention went back to Lester when I heard her make the call. I ran my hands down his back and felt where blood was starting to seep out. Fearing that moving him would cause more damage, I wrapped my arms around the two wounds to try and staunch the blood flow.

"Let me help," Connie said as she came around the car with a large black towel.

She kneeled down next to us on the street and arranged the towel over the wounds, pressing down hard. My hands came up over her's to help add more pressure. I pushed the pain in my arm out of my mind and focused everything I had on Lester. Nothing mattered other than the man in my arms. Not the pain in my arm, not my ribs crushing into the pavement below me, not the lack of air that my lungs were getting. Lester had saved my life. The possibility of him losing his for protecting me was not lost on me at all.

The sirens in the distance grew louder. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a black SUV screach to a halt. Seconds later, Bobby was kneaing beside Connie, pulling the towel back to get a better look at the bullet wounds. His face turned grim and my eyes instantly started to burn.

"He turned me around and saved me, Bobby," I whispered when he looked down at me. "I won't be able to live with myself if he dies because of me."

Bobby's hands went to Lester's back and he pushed down hard. My breath rushed out of my lungs and I had a hard time getting air back in. Bobby relaxed slightly, but he pushed back down when I shook my head for him not to do that. I brought my left hand back up to the side of Lester's face and moved it over to rest against my cheek.

"Hang in there, Lester," I whispered. "I don't want to lose you."

The paramedics arrived a few seconds later. Within five minutes, they had assessed Lester and gotten him on a gurney. I bullied my way onto the ambulance, sighting that I had to go anyway to have my arm looked at. The EMT in the back took one look at me and nodded his head. I'm not sure if it was the bullet wound on the side of my arm that was still bleeding or the crazed look in my eyes. Either way, I got in the ambulance and held onto Lester's hand as the guy continued to work on him.

"You have to let go, Ms. Plum," a nurse said once we had Lester wheeled into the emergency room. "We need all the room we can get. So you have to let go of his hand."

"I've got her."

One of Bobby's arms came around my waist as his other hand pried my hand away from Lester's. He pulled me back and into the next curtained area. A nurse went to close the curtain, but Bobby stopped her with a simple look. My eyes stayed glued to Lester as a doctor came over to look at my arm. I faintly rememeber signing a waiver to have him stitch up my arm, but the process never registered to me as I watched doctors and nurses continue to prep Lester for surgery.

"It doesn't look good, Bobby," a male doctor said as he walked away from Lester. "One went right into his kidney. That's not bad. Worst case, we just remove it. But the other is lodged right next to his spine. We won't know the extend of the damage until we get in there."

"Is Tracey on tonight?" Bobby asked, his voice was flat.

The doctor grinned. "I called her as soon as I saw where it was sitting on the x-rays. She's on her way in right now. We'll have him preped in the OR and ready to go by the time she's done scrubbing in. Xavior is already scrubbed in and waiting."

"Who are Tracey and Xavior?" I asked as I watched Bobby sign a form that the doctor had held out to him.

"Xavior is the best urologist that we have on staff at the hospital," the doctor, J. Abrams as shown on his name tag, said.

Bobby turned to me and said, "Tracey is one of the top five neurosurgeons in the world."

"And she's working here?" I could hear the incredualism in my voice.

"Closer to her family," Abrams said as he took the form back from Bobby. He turned to the nurses that were still working on Lester. "Let's get him upstairs quickly, ladies."

Bobby put an arm around my shoulder as we watched the nurses and doctor wheel Lester away. I was scared. Lester was a good friend and he had sacrificed himself for my safety. The weight of the severity of his situation started settling in my chest. Bobby's voice was no match for the fog that had taken up residence in my mind. The world started to tilt just as everything went black and I passed out.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer:JE owns the characters. I'm just playing with them.

_A/N: This is for Rae. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABE!_

**An Unlikely Love-Part Two**

_Six months later..._

He was sitting on my couch, nursing a beer and flipping through channels, when I walked into my fourth floor apartment. Tank finally convinced me to get rid of my old apartment two months ago since I was spending so much time here anyway. He grinned at me and turned the TV off as I shut the door.

"How was work?" he asked as he turned on the couch to watch me move around the small kitchen.

I grabbed a beer from the fridge and dropped a few grapes in Rex's cage. "I'm not going anywhere near the fifth floor or a computer for the next sixty-three hours unless someone pays me a million dollars."

He laughed. "That bad?"

"Between helping Tank and Ranger set up new accounts and running Silvio's 'Pentagon Clearance' searches all week, I'm ready for a vacation," I answered as I flopped down on the couch next to him.

He turned me sideways on the couch to face him before pulling my feet up in his lap. I laid my head on the arm of the couch and closed my eyes as he unlaced my boots and set then on the floor. A moan escaped my lips as he started massaging the arch of my right foot. I opened my eyes long enough to glare at him when he chuckled.

"How was your day?" I asked after taking a sip from my beer.

"Not too bad." I heard his clothes wrestle and I knew he shrugged. "Bobby released me medically, so I can go back out in the field now."

My head popped up as my eyes snapped open. The smile on my face was a mile wide. "That's fantastic! I'll bet Tank's already got you signed up for street duty."

He laughed and nodded his head. "Seven o'clock Monday morning."

"I'll bet after a week, Tank'll start bitching about you not being around to be his errand boy," I said as I slouched down slightly so that I could rest my head on the arm of the couch but still look at Lester.

He grinned as he moved over to my left foot and started massaging it. "He still has you to boss around, so he won't be too upset without me."

I groaned at the reminder. "I'm going job hunting."

"No way," he said with a shake of his head. "You're a lifer like me. You're stuck here, so get use to it."

"I'm stuck at RangeMan?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.

He grinned. "I'd never let you leave me for another job, either."

My eyes rolled so far back into my head that I thought I saw my brain. "You're off medical restrictions, Lester. You're going to forget about me as soon as you go out bar hopping with Vince."

His face darked as a frown swept in and his hands froze on my foot. "Is that what you think? That you're replaceable?"

My eyes met his and I realized that I had angered him deeply. "Why are you so angry?"

"I didn't risk my life for you for nothing, Stephanie!" His voice was loud and angry.

This was a side of Lester that I'd never seen before and, on reflex, I shrunk into the couch as I pulled my legs out of his lap and into my chest. It wasn't that I thought that Lester would physically hurt me, but I was expecting him to jump up and start shouting at me. He looked at my body language and sighed as he shook my head.

"This isn't going the way I had planned," he said quietly as he turned on the couch to put his feet back on the floor. He leaned over to rest his elbows on his knees and started rubbing his face. "I'm sorry that I yelled at you."

"It's okay, Les," I said quietly. "You wanna tell me what's not going the way you planned?"

I watched as he ran his fingers up into his hair, revealing his eyes squeezed tightly shut. He breathed deeply for a moment as his hands fisted in his hair. I wanted to reach out to him and pull him into my arms. But it looked like he was having some sort of internal battle. His eyes finally opened and he turned to look at me.

"When I heard that first shot ring out in front of the bonds office," he said quietly, "it wasn't Ranger's voice screaming in my head to protect you. It was my voice. I grabbed you and pulled you to the ground to protect you the best way that I could because I love you."

He twisted his body around and dropped off the couch so that he was kneeling beside me. A small smile peeked out of his lips as his hands cupped my face. His eyes bore down into mine and I realized just how serious he was being.

"These last six months have been amazing for me," he said seriously. "Spending every day with you let me see everything that there was to you. You are a person who cares genuinely about the people that you keep close to you. You are easy-going and take on life as it comes your way. I love the way that you moan when you eat and flap your arms around when you get mad. Your loyalty to your friends amazes me and having you in my life is truly a blessing that I never imagined it would be."

My eyes started to tear up. I had never heard anyone describe me the way that he was and it touched something deep inside me. My hands came up over his and he spread his fingers to lace them with mine.

"You've become my best friend, Steph," he continued on softly. "But... I want more. I want to share my life with you."

I opened my mouth to talk, but he carried on as he leaned back and lowered our hands. "I know that this is coming out of nowhere for you, but I've also seen the way that you look at me sometimes, like maybe you might feel the same way. So when Bobby told me that I was clear, I thought that maybe tonight would be a good time to come clean."

He leaned forward and kissed me lightly on the lips before he rocked back on his heals and stood up. I slowly sat up as he released my hands and I turned myself to face forward on the couch.

"I love you," he said simply as he looked down at me. "I know that you love me, too. The only question is, how much. I'm heading back over to my apartment. Come and see me after you've thought this over, okay?"

My brain was overwhelmed, so I just nodded my head and watched him walk out the door. What the hell just happened?


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: JE owns the characters. Sorry, sorry, sorry. This chapter just got way too long, so I had to cut it.

_A/N: This is for Rae. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABE!_

**An Unlikely Lover-Part Three**

My body was frozen on the couch. I'm pretty sure that I haven't moved a muscle for the last hour. And the only reason that I know it's been an hour is because of the digital clock on the microwave across the room. Lester loves me. Really, truly, loves me. He loves me so much that he told me, without qualifiers, and that he wants to share his life with me.

I sighed. How long had it been my wish to find someone that wanted to _share_ their life with me?

_What about Joe and Ranger? _A little voice whispered in my head.

What about Joe and Ranger? Ranger finds my antics amusing and lists me under 'entertainment' in his budget. And Joe? Joe's been nothing but an ass since Lester saved my life. One would think that he might be grateful that Lester risked his life for me. Joe had taken the stance that if I had married him and was a stay at home mom, I wouldn't have been shot at in the first place.

_And Lester? _The voice asked.

Lester. I grinned. He's… He's… He's…

_Everything. _The voice simply stated.

The trueness of the statement hit me like a bucket of ice water. Lester was everything. He was the one that I went to when I had a shitty day because I knew that he'd make me feel better. He never once bitched about me being a bounty hunter and he didn't harass me about coming back to work for RangeMan. He's even made it all the way through a dinner at my parents' house without pulling a gun on Grandma. Twice. He doesn't chide me over my eating habits and he's never once forced me into the gym.

_Because he loves you the way that you are. _The voice said. _Unconditionally._

Unconditionally.

_So why are you just sitting here? _The voice asked.

Because I'm scared. Because I don't want my heart to get broken again. Because I'd never get over it if he walked away from me. Because I love him, too. Because I've never wanted to _share_ my life with someone before he came crashing into mine. Because every moment that I spend with him, I fall a little bit more in love with him.

_What happened to the little girl that jumped off the roof of the garage because she thought she could fly? _The voice asked.

She got her heart stomped on too many times. Walking in on The Dick hadn't been too bad. But having Ranger send me back to Joe and the way that Joe has repeatedly hurt me... I just don't think that my heart can take another beating like that.

_You're automatically assuming that Lester's going to hurt you? _The voice asked.

Every man that I've ever loved has hurt me. Why would Lester be different? He'll get tired of me like Dickie did. Or he'll use me and toss me aside like Ranger did. Or he'll try to change me into another person like Joe did.

_Or he'll love you everyday for the rest of his life and be everything that you've been wishing for. Lester could be the one man that's different from all the others that came before him. He has the insane thirst for life that you exhibit. His loyalty to his friends and bravery in the line of duty are unbeatable. He risked his life to protect you because he loves you. Why won't you risk your heart because you love him?_

My heart pounded in my chest as I slowly stood up from the couch. I walked slowly to the door and stared at the handle. I'm going to need a lot of super glue to put my heart back together if this doesn't work out.

_Costco sells it in bulk. _The voice whispered. _Just open the door and walk across the hall._

After closing my eyes and taking a deep breath, I reached out and opened the door. The hall was empty as I stepped out and closed the door to my apartment. My feet moved slowly and it felt like hours had passed before I got to Lester's door, just across the hall.

_Open the door and walk in. _The voice commanded.

My hand didn't hesitate. I reached up and twisted the handle, the door slowly opening as I pushed on it. Lester looked up from the beer bottle that he was spinning on the kitchen table. His face was guarded and the smile he gave me was forced.

"Hey," he said quietly as I stepped in and shut the door.

_Tell him! _The voice shouted in my head.

"I love you," I blurted out. "I love you and that scares the shit out of me. I'm scared because every man I've ever loved has broken my heart. I'm scared because I don't know if I have the strength to put my heart back together if you break it. I'm scared because you might be the one man who won't break my heart. I'm scared because I want to share my life with you. I'm scared because when I'm with you, I feel like I'm home."

My teeth sunk into my bottom lip when I ran out of steam. Lester had stood up from the table when I started ranting and walked to me. I took a deep breath and looked from his chest up to his face to see how he was taking my outburst. The most beautiful smile I had ever seen was plastered across his face.

"It sounds like you're just as scared as I am," he said lightly.

My breath came out in a whoosh when I realized I had been holding it. "So what do we do?"

He reached up and caressed the side of my face. "We jump in with both feet and hold on to each other as tightly as we can."

I grinned. "Kinda reckless. Don't you think?"

"Love is suppose to be reckless," he said as he moved a little closer to me and wrapped an arm around my waist.

My hands came up to his hips and moved around to his lower back. "Is that why I've been getting it wrong all these years?"

He grinned down at me as he pulled me flush against his body, his eyes trained to my lips. "Yes. And we should both be reckless by letting me kiss you."

My laugh was cut short by his lips sealing around mine. His tongue slid into my open mouth and my hands fisted in the back of his shirt. Every thought in my head flooded out as he kissed me. His hands came up into my hair and tilted my head slightly to get a better angle. A moan worked its way up my throat as I felt him start to grow hard against me.

"How reckless can we be?" His voice was husky as he pulled back slightly, his lips brushing against mine as he spoke.

I blinked a few times to clear the desire from my brain. "You said we had to jump in with both feet. I think we should be as reckless as we can."

As soon as the words left my lips, Lester lifted me up in the air and guided my legs around his hip. His right hand firmly grasped my ass as his left hand came up to lightly cup my cheek. His eyes had turned dark green and filled with desire. Desire for me. Desire for what we were about to do.

"I love you." His voice was clear and definite as he stared at me.

My lips tilted as my heart melted at his words. "I love you."

_TBC... Sorry! The smut's coming! I swear it, Rae!_


End file.
